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Story: Jack Foley
A MIGHTILY impressive £1.25 million has been raised for
the victims of the Boxing Day tsunami disaster in Asia following
a Live Aid style concert at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday,
January 22, 2005.
Over 60,000 fans packed into the Cardiff venue in one of the
biggest charity concerts to have taken place since Live
Aid.
Acts including Keane
(pictured), Eric Clapton, Goldie
Lookin' Chain, the Manic Street Preachers and Snow Patrol
performed as part of the line-up, which took in everything from
rock and pop to classical and rap.
The seven-hour marathon concert took just weeks to arrange and
sold-out within hours, easily surpassing the £1 million
total organisers had been hoping to raise from the outset.
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The impressive sum brings the total
now raised for tsunami victims by the British public to more than
£200m.
Other popular acts on the day were Embrace,
Lemar, Feeder and
Kelly Jones, of The Stereophonics, as well as Jools Holland and
Welsh singer, Kathryn
Jenkins, who got proceedings started with a poignant rendition
of Amazing Grace.
The audience also heard several messages of goodwill from politicians
and celebrities, including Prime Minister, Tony Blair, and Wales
First Minister, Rhodri Morgan, as well as Prince Charles.
U2's Bono and X-Factor's Sharon Osbourne also sent video messages,
while surprise guests included the co-creator of Live Aid, Midge
Ure, who praised the work of the organisers.
Commenting afterwards, event organiser, Paul Sergeant, who is
also general manager of the Millennium Stadium, described the
evening as 'phenomenal'.
He added: "The crowd have left singing. Everything has gone
- for the whole three weeks - so smoothly... If the opportunity
came round we would do something again."
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